Thank you so much for auditing us, Darren! I wish you could have seen my look of shock and joy when I saw the email with your video. It had many suggestions for improvement that I never would have identified on my own, and I’m going to start implementing many of them right away.
Yay! I was just about to email you to let you know I selected your business. I'm glad you saw this already, and I'm glad to hear that it will be helpful for you.
Love this style of video Darren! This is so helpful in better understanding the process of getting our GBP to rank better and get them fully filled out. I would love to see you audit a GBP listing for a sole practitioner, like a real estate agent. I work with a lot of sole practitioners who are at companies with an address, but also many practitioners. I’m getting many mixed signals on how to list these. Use their home address or the office? Put only the sole practitioners name or include the companies name too? Add keywords to their title with their name? So many suggestions, but I’m starting to find Google suspending these listings right out of the gate and can’t get them reinstated after making all the Google Expert suggestions. What is the right way to do these and get decent rankings? Would love to see you cover this. Thank you so much for all your great content. It’s been extremely helpful!
Great content as always! Still looking forward to your video about “review gating”. We’ve recently been doing the following strategy for a local service business. 1) During onboarding, collect email address and ask the customer if they mind us “following up” via email to check everything is ok, remind them of routine visits & share information + news. If they agree, they get added to an email marketing list. 2) the first email they get is a “thank you for visiting us” email, with a link to a landing page where they can opt-in for specific content types 3) if they complete the landing page, we send ANOTHER thank you email, asking them to leave a review which includes a link to the review form. Does this sound like review gating? I don’t think it is because someone could opt in for content categories but still leave a negative review (in theory 😉).
Great video as always Darren! An excellent step-by-step audit that would be useful to many businesses. In regards to the title tag for the homepage, given it has the brand name first with a colon "Sterling Property Services:" I would bet that Google has re-written the title tag itself as it didn't like the tag set on the page. Basically, Google saying "Nup, we don't like your title tag, we will write one better"...looking into the code of the page it appears the title tag is currently set to "Expert Painting & Color Guidance - Sterling Property Services" so it looks like a rewrite has occured. One other friendly tip for Sandy, in your H1 header, there is no space between the '&' and 'Color', Google would currently be seeing your H1 header as "Expert Painting &Color Guidance". I would look to fix that up. Your H2 headers on the homepage also don't give you any 'power' around painting related search terms as your H2 headers are currently "Call Sandy at 828-692-4355", "our services", "some testimonials". You aren't trying to rank for "our services" or "some testimonials" so move those to a H3, or H4 header and use H2 headers more closely related to your primary search terms.
Greg, thank you very much for these great suggestions! Is there a best practices format for how to word H1, or any tag? What goes first: key words, location, business name? Very bewildering. 😅
That's a great idea! I am working on the 2024 Local Search Ranking Factors right now and I'll definitely make a video about it once the results are in. Do you suggest I do a detailed walkthrough of every part of the GBP too?
Because they have been tested many times in SEO tests over the past decade, and content in these sections has never had any impact on rankings. Google has also (off the record) said that they don't consider the description in the local ranking algorithm. I'm always interested in new tests, though. If you have compelling research that shows that these sections impact rankings, I'd love to see it.
You're going to have a much easier time ranking in the city that Google lists on your profile under the review rating. It would be like "[category] in City, Province".
Darren is completely missing the fact that Scarborough is literally NOT a city separate from Toronto. Scarborough vs. Toronto is 100% unrelated to the situation he discusses here. It's perfectly possibly to rank into an area within a city (at my agency, we do it constantly lot for Montreal, Laval and Quebec City), as long as you make sure to be inside the area that Google assigns to the searched name (because all too often, Google may not define it how you want them to!)
@@WhitesparkCa Well, as @chrisD's question kinda demonstrate, the former cityies that got amalgamated into Toronto in 2001 still maintain a presence on Gmaps. The same can't be said for those that became Ottawa. That place is a.
I think every office space has unit numbers / letters, and Google is ranking millions of businesses with this, so I'm not sure I understand your question.
Hello Darren! I did almost everything I can to boost my Google my business profile ranking but not able to see what's wrong, can you please help me in figuring out the issues
Great video. Quick question: Who should write the questions? The owner of the profile? or should we have another person write it, and then we respond them?
Hello! Can You Make A Detailed Video Or A Blog Where I Can Understand How An Individual or a Freelancer who has no registered business but provides services such as "Internet connectivity fix", can create a Google business profile for himself or herself?
As a local business should I have an Instagram page even if it won't get more than about 5 to 10 followers ever? Like is it good to just have one? Does Google value that? Or would it see that it doesn't have a lot of action and penalize me?
Social media doesn't impact local SEO rankings, so no, Google will not penalize you for having a dead instagram page. However, depending on the type of business, it might be a good idea to build a following on Instagram because lots of younger people use the platform to find local businesses. This advice mostly applies to restaurants, bars, coffee shops, cute stores -- aesthetically appealing stuff. If you're a plumber, then you should maybe pour your time and effort into something else :D
@@WhitesparkCa Thank you for the response! Your channel is great! I'm actually surprised that Google doesn't see social media for local SEO rankings. It seems like it would just add more validity and authority to the website.
No, I suggested they open a second location that has the potential to rank in the area they want to rank in. They can still rank in their current area with their current location. And Google is not confused. Google's local search algorithm puts a significant emphasis on distance of the business from the searcher's location. A business that is 20 miles away will almost never rank. It's just the way the algorithm works.
Thank you so much for auditing us, Darren! I wish you could have seen my look of shock and joy when I saw the email with your video. It had many suggestions for improvement that I never would have identified on my own, and I’m going to start implementing many of them right away.
Yay! I was just about to email you to let you know I selected your business. I'm glad you saw this already, and I'm glad to hear that it will be helpful for you.
How'd it go?
Can't get enough of this 5-star content!
Glad you like it!
@@WhitesparkCa 0:57
Love this style of video Darren! This is so helpful in better understanding the process of getting our GBP to rank better and get them fully filled out. I would love to see you audit a GBP listing for a sole practitioner, like a real estate agent. I work with a lot of sole practitioners who are at companies with an address, but also many practitioners. I’m getting many mixed signals on how to list these. Use their home address or the office? Put only the sole practitioners name or include the companies name too? Add keywords to their title with their name? So many suggestions, but I’m starting to find Google suspending these listings right out of the gate and can’t get them reinstated after making all the Google Expert suggestions. What is the right way to do these and get decent rankings? Would love to see you cover this. Thank you so much for all your great content. It’s been extremely helpful!
Great content as always! Still looking forward to your video about “review gating”.
We’ve recently been doing the following strategy for a local service business.
1) During onboarding, collect email address and ask the customer if they mind us “following up” via email to check everything is ok, remind them of routine visits & share information + news.
If they agree, they get added to an email marketing list.
2) the first email they get is a “thank you for visiting us” email, with a link to a landing page where they can opt-in for specific content types
3) if they complete the landing page, we send ANOTHER thank you email, asking them to leave a review which includes a link to the review form.
Does this sound like review gating?
I don’t think it is because someone could opt in for content categories but still leave a negative review (in theory 😉).
You mentioned adding FAQs to the pages in this review. Can you add FAQ schema and local business schema on the same page? And another excellent video!
Yes you can add schema for both, and I highly recommend doing that!
Great video as always Darren! An excellent step-by-step audit that would be useful to many businesses. In regards to the title tag for the homepage, given it has the brand name first with a colon "Sterling Property Services:" I would bet that Google has re-written the title tag itself as it didn't like the tag set on the page. Basically, Google saying "Nup, we don't like your title tag, we will write one better"...looking into the code of the page it appears the title tag is currently set to "Expert Painting & Color Guidance - Sterling Property Services" so it looks like a rewrite has occured. One other friendly tip for Sandy, in your H1 header, there is no space between the '&' and 'Color', Google would currently be seeing your H1 header as "Expert Painting &Color Guidance". I would look to fix that up. Your H2 headers on the homepage also don't give you any 'power' around painting related search terms as your H2 headers are currently "Call Sandy at 828-692-4355", "our services", "some testimonials". You aren't trying to rank for "our services" or "some testimonials" so move those to a H3, or H4 header and use H2 headers more closely related to your primary search terms.
Oh geez. You're totally right. I should have been looking at the titles on the page, not the site: search results. These other tips are great too!
Greg, thank you very much for these great suggestions! Is there a best practices format for how to word H1, or any tag? What goes first: key words, location, business name? Very bewildering. 😅
Thank You for the video Darren!
You're welcome! It's what I love to do.
Love this!
thanks!
Great content!
A very useful video. Thanks a lot Darren !
Glad it was helpful! My pleasure!
Awesome information
Thanks!
in your video are you using a software program to show you the different categories? How do I see that on my screen as well?
It has been a while since I made this, so I’m not 100% certain, but it was probably the GMB Everywhere chrome extension.
Great video full of tips . You might consider a new 2024 GMB video how to ? :)
That's a great idea! I am working on the 2024 Local Search Ranking Factors right now and I'll definitely make a video about it once the results are in. Do you suggest I do a detailed walkthrough of every part of the GBP too?
@@WhitesparkCa Yes that would be great. Thanks again for your great content!
Great video, but why do you think the GBP description, review responses, and Q&A's don't affect rankings? Google crawls all of that content.
Because they have been tested many times in SEO tests over the past decade, and content in these sections has never had any impact on rankings. Google has also (off the record) said that they don't consider the description in the local ranking algorithm. I'm always interested in new tests, though. If you have compelling research that shows that these sections impact rankings, I'd love to see it.
Nice 👍
Cheers!
What about a business in Scarborough Ontario and GBP say’s business in Toronto.
What city should be optimized and targeting?
You're going to have a much easier time ranking in the city that Google lists on your profile under the review rating. It would be like "[category] in City, Province".
@@WhitesparkCa Thanks!🙏
Darren is completely missing the fact that Scarborough is literally NOT a city separate from Toronto. Scarborough vs. Toronto is 100% unrelated to the situation he discusses here. It's perfectly possibly to rank into an area within a city (at my agency, we do it constantly lot for Montreal, Laval and Quebec City), as long as you make sure to be inside the area that Google assigns to the searched name (because all too often, Google may not define it how you want them to!)
@@circeus Oh, I did miss that. I thought Scarborough was its own city.
@@WhitesparkCa Well, as @chrisD's question kinda demonstrate, the former cityies that got amalgamated into Toronto in 2001 still maintain a presence on Gmaps. The same can't be said for those that became Ottawa. That place is a.
How does getting an office space help you if the office has unit numbers/ letters? wouldnt that be problematic?
I think every office space has unit numbers / letters, and Google is ranking millions of businesses with this, so I'm not sure I understand your question.
Hello Darren!
I did almost everything I can to boost my Google my business profile ranking but not able to see what's wrong, can you please help me in figuring out the issues
Great video. Quick question: Who should write the questions? The owner of the profile? or should we have another person write it, and then we respond them?
Owner of the profile. Google is totally cool with it. I think they like the content and don’t care where it comes from.
Hello! Can You Make A Detailed Video Or A Blog Where I Can Understand How An Individual or a Freelancer who has no registered business but provides services such as "Internet connectivity fix", can create a Google business profile for himself or herself?
As a local business should I have an Instagram page even if it won't get more than about 5 to 10 followers ever? Like is it good to just have one? Does Google value that? Or would it see that it doesn't have a lot of action and penalize me?
Social media doesn't impact local SEO rankings, so no, Google will not penalize you for having a dead instagram page. However, depending on the type of business, it might be a good idea to build a following on Instagram because lots of younger people use the platform to find local businesses. This advice mostly applies to restaurants, bars, coffee shops, cute stores -- aesthetically appealing stuff. If you're a plumber, then you should maybe pour your time and effort into something else :D
@@WhitesparkCa Thank you for the response! Your channel is great!
I'm actually surprised that Google doesn't see social media for local SEO rankings. It seems like it would just add more validity and authority to the website.
Did you really tell them to just give up and start a new business in a new area because google is confused
No, I suggested they open a second location that has the potential to rank in the area they want to rank in. They can still rank in their current area with their current location. And Google is not confused. Google's local search algorithm puts a significant emphasis on distance of the business from the searcher's location. A business that is 20 miles away will almost never rank. It's just the way the algorithm works.
It would be awesome if you can audit my business. Max Adventures is a kids party center in Brooklyn NY. Thank you in advance
I'll add it to the list and might select your business for a future audit. :)